January 23, 2011

I instantly fell in love with Vigan, Ilocos Sur.  More so when I saw the cobble-stoned street of Calle Crisologo and after our tour of the Syquia Mansion.  Going to Vigan is like a trip back in time, so far back when disability insurance was unheard of.

I thoroughly enjoyed our tour of the Syquia Mansion.  I hope to post more photos after I’ve gone through our vacation photos (thousands of them!) and post-processed them.  Sooner than soon…I hope.

Viva Vigan!  Mabuhay!

One of the first Ilocano dishes we got to try during our trip to Ilocos was Poqui-Poqui, an eggplant omelet formed into balls.

I know, the name sounds funny, specially for a Manila born and raised Filipino whose mind might just have the teeny-tiniest tint of green.  Hee hee.

We raised through Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte (going as far as Pagudpud) for 4days and 4 nights.  Hectic as our schedule was, we had so much fun.  I’m glad we’re in tip-top shape (read: no smokin’ Davidoff cigars. Make that no smokin’…period!)  Otherwise, we wouldn’t have survived the pace of our amazing Ilocos race. Whew!

Mabuhay!

January 19, 2011

Champorado with Belgian chocolate and raspberry ice cream…

When you’ve had champorado this good, you will not have champorado any other way again.  I know I won’t! I’ve had the chance to enjoy this champorado with a twist for dessert at The Stock Market Cafe in Bonifacio High Street as a way to salvage the evening after a very disappointing dinner at a Serendra restaurant (clue: high-end Spanish!). Dessert saved the night for us, and 3 rounds of the Filipino board game Mismo! Hee hee.

So I haven’t been exercising since we went on vacation.  I’m still not considering taking  the best weight loss pills.  I’ll be back on track starting Monday. *cross fingers* Cheers!

Charming as these dream catchers are, what I really need right now is a “Texas bedtime catcher”.  It’s been almost a week since we returned from our short but sweet vacation in the homeland, yet our bodies still seem to think they’re in Southeast Asia.  For several days now, I’ve been waking up at 2am and unable to go back to sleep.  Hopefully, this coming weekend will do the trick for us, what with 2 party invitations lined up!  Otherwise, I’ll be needing forehead wrinkles treatment much earlier than I would prefer.   Cheers!

This is how a garage door opener looked like in the olden times…

Seriously now,  I took this photo at Villa Angela where we spent the night when we visited the lovely city of Vigan in Ilocos Sur.  During our visit to the Philippines over the holidays, we finally fulfilled a long-time dream of driving all the way to Pagudpud in Ilocos Norte from Manila. It is an experience that is definitely something new to us.  I immediately fell in love with something old, Vigan. It is just plain charming, specially Calle Ibarra, the cobble-stoned street that seems to take one back in time. Charming!

I would very much love to come and visit Ilocos again, at a much leisurely pace.*wink*

Mabuhay!

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